A Better Way to Travel

by Matilda Stawarz

Felicity looked at her list of visits and sighed. She had collections all over London and it was freezing. The first address was in east London, and her last was in Ealing, which was in west London. That's a long way for someone to travel on such a cold night.

"I wish children wouldn't lose so many teeth in the winter," she grumbled. Anyway, who decided that fairies had to fly around at night picking up teeth? Why couldn't the elves do it? They had much warmer outfits. It was so unfair!

Felicity loved flying but flying outdoors in winter was unpleasant. There must be a better way to travel...

She wore gloves, hat, scarf, long-johns and boots to keep out the cold, but if she wore a coat over her wings she wouldn't be able to fly. She put her list into her satchel, collected a bag of coins from the office, opened her Google Maps app, and took off. Below her, the pretty twinkling London lights took her mind off the cold.

She collected teeth without waking pets or children, like they had taught her in tooth fairy school. One child's tooth was a bit rotten, and she didn't want to put it in her bag with all the lovely white teeth. But then she would have to write a letter to the boy to explain why she hadn't taken the tooth and left a coin, and her fingers were so cold, she didn't think she could write.

By the second-to-last address, her wings were frozen, and she was tired. She collected the tooth, left a coin, then spotted a dying fire in the fireplace and snuggled by it to defrost her wings.

She was woken up by the sound of a grown-up making tea in the kitchen. It was nearly dawn, and she still had another child to visit. As she escaped through the catflap, a passing fox asked, "Shouldn't you be back at fairy HQ by now?"

"Yes! But I fell asleep and still have to get to Ealing for one last tooth. It's too cold to fly and I won't get there in time."

"Come on", said the fox. "I've got an idea." With Felicity on his back, the fox trotted along Park Lane, and stopped at a hidden door. "This tube station has been closed for years. Fly along the tunnel to Hyde Park Corner, then catch the first Piccadilly train to South Ealing."

It was Felicity's first tube journey. It was so early, the train was empty when it arrived. She sat down and read the adverts. Then she spotted a poster saying that next winter, trains would run all night. "Aha! There is a better way to travel."

And that last tooth? Luckily, the little girl from Ealing (whose wobbly tooth had fallen out that night) liked a lie-in, and Felicity was just in time to deliver her coin before she woke.